Once Upon a Time Lord
by Alley Cat Sunflower
Summary: Rose Tyler, happily married, tells the story of Little Red Riding Hood to her youngest daughter - with a bit of a twist. Human!Ten/Rose is a thing, as they are married, but their romance is mentioned rather than demonstrated… though it does have a couple… implications. I don't own Doctor Who! If I did, Ten would have been around a bit longer.


"Mummy, can you tell me a bedtime story?"

Sara Tyler's light brown eyes, so much like Rose's own, got that puppy-dog gleam in them. Rose knew, since she had done the same thing when she had been young, that her youngest daughter was stalling, wanting to delay her bedtime for a few minutes. But she was a mother. It was her solemn duty to tell her children stories. Besides, Rose liked telling her daughters fairy tales (Nick, her middle child, didn't appreciate them so much). They let her imagine a world without all the logic and science she had grown accustomed to since she had met the Doctor.

"All right then," she sighed, smiling at her darling Sara Jane as she sank down slowly onto the bed. "Mummy'll tell you the story of…" Rose hesitated before deciding, bravely, that she would make it up on her own. "Little Rose Riding Hood," she finished, with a grin. This was going to be fun…

_Once upon a Time Lord—_

"A what?" interjected Sara, an adorably quizzical look on her little face.

"Never mind," responded Rose, laughing a little, and began again.

_Once upon a _time_, there was a girl called Little Rose Riding Hood, but everybody called her Rose. She lived in a big city all alone… e-except for her mum of course. _(Sara was looking a little worried for the half-fictional girl's sake, thinking about living all alone—bless her tiny, singular heart.) _Anyway, she'd lost her father a long time ago, and decided one day to go out and look for him._

"How did she lose him?" whispered Sara, as though afraid of interrupting.

"No one knows," said Rose, after a hesitation; she couldn't tell her darling daughter such things yet. "That's why Rose was going to look for him, see?"

"Okay," said Sara.

_But a man called the Doctor appeared—_

"Like Dad?"

Rose nodded smilingly. "Now will you let me continue?" she asked, unconsciously using her listen-to-me-Doctor-I'm-not-doing-this voice.

"Yeah," said Sara tremulously. Rose stroked her hair reassuringly, trying to find her place in the fairy tale. The Doctor, that was it.

—_the Doctor appeared, riding a great big blue wolf with great big eyes swirling with energy—the big Bad Wolf _(she chuckled a little)_ and he told Rose that he was lonely, and wouldn't she like to come on board and travel with him awhile. He could go anywhere in time and space. And Rose told him she'd like to go._

"'Welcome aboard,' said the Doctor, smiling at the girl," said the Doctor from the doorway, doing so as he spoke and making Rose jump, looking at her husband reproachfully when she had recovered. "I'm going to bed," he added to Rose, giving a barely noticeable wink to his wife and heading out the door. Rose knew what _that_ meant, but she wasn't going to cut off her story just for that.

'_Welcome aboard,' said the Doctor, smiling at the girl. Rose smiled back at him and in that instant she realized he was the most important man she would ever meet. He offered her a hand, and Rose took it, climbing on board the big Bad Wolf and traveling all through the kingdom._

"What was the kingdom called, Mummy?" asked Sara.

Rose paused. What _was _the kingdom going to be called?

"Tardis," she decided.

_They traveled all around. They saw dummies come to life, and they went to a party in space, and they saw ghosts made of gas, and they overthrew the aliens who ruled the country… _(Rose paused, trying to remember all the other adventures she had had with the Doctor.) _And they realized the Daleks were trying to take over, yeah? So they vanquished the last one in existence, or so they thought. They rescued a TV station from a monster, they figured out that Rose's dad had… er… disappeared to the other universe a long time ago? They figured out the cause of a disease, and cured it. They were on a couple TV shows, and then they found the rest of the Daleks, and the Bad Wolf saved their lives from the evil Emperor._

Sara's eyes were wide as she whispered, "Wow." Rose smiled at her daughter and tucked her in tighter, continuing with her story. It was going pretty well so far…

_But those weren't all their adventures. More aliens showed up and tried to kill the humans off, but the Bad Wolf saved them again. Then, the Doctor healed an entire hospital full of patients. We—They beat up a werewolf, and taught at a school a little while, and met some masked robots, and discovered the Cybermen—these robot things that wanted everyone in the world to be like them. They watched television, and rescued a planet from a black hole _(Sara knew all about black holes from her father)_, and drew some pictures, and then—and then… they realized how to get into the other universe and find her father._

"Mum?" Sara's older daughter, Diana Harriet, stood in the doorway. She was ten years old, but acted much older. More like a teenager. Too much like Rose herself, she reflected. Too rash.

"Not now, sweetheart," she sighed, glancing up at the doorway. "Why're you still dressed, anyhow? It's practically nine o'clock. Get in your pajamas."

"But Nick—"

"I should have known." Nicholas John, at the mischievous age of seven, had a habit of playing practical jokes on his siblings, such as stealing all their pajamas, which had happened to Diana several times recently.

"I'll ask Dad—"

"Not a good idea," interrupted Rose, slightly alarmed. "Dad's… studying in the bedroom. You can sneak into Nick's room and take them back, all right? Go on, then." She gave her special secret smile to her daughter, who smiled back and walked off.

_To get into the other universe, they had to fight all the Cybermen and the Daleks together. So the Doctor came up with this plan, right, to suck all the evil robots into the gap between universes, and while he was at it Rose could wander into the other universe and see her dad. But the gap closed before _(Rose swallowed at the memory) _she could say goodbye and thanks, and besides, her mum was still in the other universe!_

Looking at her daughter, Rose found Sara looked scared. Maybe this wasn't such a great idea. But it had a happy ending, didn't it? She'd just plow on and hope she didn't scar Sara permanently.

_So she swore she'd come back, and with the help of the mystical Torchwood, Rose eventually managed to get back into the other universe again. She found this witch called Donna, who helped her find the Doctor again, and all his other companions he'd had in the meantime. They all pulled together against this new threat—the Daleks had come back, and they'd stolen Earth and dragged it to some far-off galaxy or something. And they destroyed all the Daleks and their evil Emperor, Davros, and they towed the Earth back home with the Bad Wolf!_

Sara smiled in relief, and Rose did as well. She had hoped she wasn't being _too _truthful. A five-year-old probably couldn't handle it, after all.

_They found Rose's mum, and brought her to the other universe to be with Rose and her dad. Then, the Doctor said he'd like to stay as well, so they all said goodbye to the Bad Wolf, who went back to the first universe to protect it. Then, the Doctor and Rose realized their love for each other, and we got married and lived happily ever after. The end!_

"You said 'we'," frowned Sara.

"Did I?" Rose blinked. "Oops. I meant 'they'."

"Okay," yawned Sara, and Rose knew she didn't think anything of it. She was sleepy, after all. In all likelihood, she wouldn't even remember most of the story, which was all for the best. Rose didn't want her to have to know all the truth, after all.

So why did she tell that particular story, so close to her heart in parts? Rose tucked her daughter in, kissed her forehead, bade her a murmured good night, turned out the light, and shut the door, and that question remained in her head all the while. Maybe it was just because she needed to tell _her_ story to someone, even if she had to twist the truth a little to do so.

As she opened the door to find the Doctor awaiting her companionship, she smiled her most flattering smile, honestly happy. Her life was almost as perfect as she could ever dream.

Almost.

There would always be a part of her longing for the stars…

**((First Doctor Who fanfiction! And also the closest thing to fluff I'll probably ever write, but don't quote me on that. Might do the other companions' families telling their kids stories too, but this was the most pressing in my imagination, so yeah. Anyway, review if you please! Feedback appreciated.))**


End file.
